Insulating unit



May 1o, 193s. D R, SEAMAN 2, 116,771

- INSULATING UNIT Y Filed May 29, 1955 Vi IEHUL @um l HHM "i i 111%' ii Wai in I-E HIUUKMI E IE lf 7b2/e7? (07: @Zaman 56077250? Patented May 10, 1938 INSULAT'ING UNIT Duncan R. Seaman,

Seaman Paper Company,

poration of Illinois Detroit, Mich., assignor to Chicago, Ill., a cor- Applcation May 29, 1935, Serial No. 24,162

- 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in insulating panels or board and refers specifically to a panel or board comprising a fibrous material having intrinsic insulating characteristics, the

panel or board being so constructed as to have ideal heat, cold and sound insulating properties.

The utility, objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawing and following detailed description.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in section, of an automobile equipped with one form of my insulating board. f

Fig. 2 is asectional view o1' the panel or board upon a metal support.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view, parts being broken away, of the panel or board per se.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating a modification of my invention.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5. l

Referring in detail to the drawing, l indicates an automobile having hood 2, engine 3, steering apparatus 4 and engine compartment is separated from the drivers compartment 5 by a partition or dash board 6, which for economy in construction and durability is made of metal. It is well known that metal is a good conductor of heat and also sound. Hence, means is usually provided for insulating said dash board to prevent the-passage of heat from the engine to the drivers compartment or vice versa and to dampen sound vibrations.

My invention comprises a board or panel 1 constructed of loosely felted fibrous material, preierably kapok which is a hollow fibre having walls impervious to water and capable of being bulked in low density volume. 'Ihe sheet or board is provided throughout its area with a plurality of indentations 8 and projections 9 which appearreciprocally on each face of the sheet, that is, an indentation 8 on one sheet is 'disposed opposite to a projection 9 on the opposite face of the sheet.

One of the faces of the sheet or board 1 may be coated with asphalt or other waterproofing material, the asphalt or waterprooiing film l0 0 completely covering theindented surface and conforming with the indentations and projections thereon. In utilizing my invention in conjunction with automobiles, the sheet or board 1 is adhesively united to the metal base or support Il comprising, for instance, the dash 6. Of

drivers compartment 5. The

course, adhesion of the board 1 with the base 1| takes place only 9, as indicated at ity of dead air cells I3 between the base board 1. The adhesive pr cement, but other similar adhesives templated.

As has been at the crests of the projections i2 in Fig. 2,'providing a plural- I l and eferably used is rubber are also conhereinbefore described between each of the ridges or projections there is provided a dead air cell, which in itself is one oi the 10 best known methodscf heat and cold insulation. In addition, if kapok is used, the body of the sheet or board comprises dead air cells and these dead air spaces between the fibres of the sheet or hollow fibres having minute cells coupled with the board, gives said sheet or board unusually high The metal thermal resistance. dented sheet to the cementing of this inbase il also eliminates any possibilityy of setting up a skin temperature on the metal, which might be absorbed by any convection movement of the air within the automobile itself, because the skin temperature of the asphalt surface perature of the outside surface of the I0 is higher than the skin temthe metal. Furthermore, insulating materials are only heat resistors as long as they Consequently, by the of the asphalt or waterproof iihn l0 on sheet or board 1 the body of the board ismalntained in a substantially dry state and, hence,

the insulating properties of the material of the board are maintained substantially constant.

By adhesively uniting the metal base Il, sound metal base by the engine or less into small groups,

its own individual air cell.

the sheet or board 1 to vibrations set up in/tlie 3 are broken up more each being confined to The sound. waves will readily traverse the air space and reach the body oi the material where, due to the hollow coniibre and. its loosely felted construction of the dition, a good portion of the sound effect will be absorbed. However, cessively thick, there unless the board is made exwill not be surilcient material present to make this absorption complete, and

if the asphalt skin not present these pass through the into the' automobile itself waves striking the inner i'llm, instead of passing reected back through or waterproof lm I0 were unabsorbed sound waves would body of the material 1 and then through said film, will be the fibrous body 1 and a However, the sound surface of the asphalt further amount of sound waves will be absorbed, and by the continuance of this bouncingor refleeting action a very high percentage of the sound will be dissipated.

the sheet. However, by adhesively uniting a board l to the metal sheet, the Weight factor alone of the added material will materially reof vibration and the wave length of the sound.

duce the resultant sound effect by changing the resonant frequency of the sheet. This effect is that of damping and .tends to reduce the period In addition, the sound absorbed by any absorbing medium is dependent upon the bulk of the material upon which the sound waves impinge. By providing an indented surface for the sheet or board "l, a much greater surface is exposed to the sound waves and a greater weight of inaterial is thus added to the same unit of area.

Referring particularly to Figs. and 6, a slight modification of my board is shown. The board M is similar in construction to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4, having a body 'I' of loosely felted fibrous material preferably kapok and a coating or lm of asphalt I0 or other waterproof material. The

board I4 may be indented similar to board l.

In this form of my invention the board I 4 prior to indenting the same may have united to the asphalt surface thereof a crinkled kraft paper I5 which conforms with the indentations after the board is indented. By using the kraft liner additional structural strength is imparted tov the board. By using crinkled paper said liner will not tear or be lruptured during the indenting operation since the paper is more or less resilient. In all other respects board Il is the same as aiiefmi board 'l and may be used under the same conditions and for the same purposes.

It is to be understood, of course, that I do not wish to limit my invention to use only as anautomobile liner, since the same is equally efficacious in other environments, for instance, an insulatlng building board, refrigerator lining or the like. It is to be further understood that an asphalt or other Waterproof coating similar to the iilm lil may be applied to both faces of 'the body 1 or a crinkled sheet l5 together with an asphalt or other waterproof adhesive film id maybe applied to each face of the body l'.

I claim as my invention:

l. An insulating board comprising a body of loosely felted brous material having a plurality of indentations .and projections upon each face thereof, a Waterproof coating upon a surface thereof which conforms with said surface, and a iibrous liner adhesively united by said. coating to said body, said fibrous liner also conforming with the indentations and projections of said surface, the crests of the opposite surface being adhesively united to a. metal base.

2.' An insulating board comprising a body of loosely felted fibrous material having a plurality of indentations and projectionsvupon each face thereof, a waterproof coating upon a surface thereof which conforms with said surface, and a crinkled fibrous liner adhesively united by said coating to said body, said liner also conforming with the indentations and projections of said surface, the crests of the opposite surface of said body being adhesively united to a metal base.

y DUNCAN R. SEAMAN. 

